Eight Tufts students put on their best poker faces last night to compete in the First Annual Tufts Poker Championship Mega-Event Extravaganza. Sponsored by the Tufts Poker Society, the game was no limit Texas hold 'em.
The participants - freshmen William Louden, Moris Mishaan and Justin Greenbaum, sophomore Eric Newville, junior Jeremy Setton and seniors James Kubisch, Michael Contrastano, and Seth Homer - were also accompanied at the table by world-renowned professional poker player Dutch Boyd.
Contrastano won the tournament at 11:21 p.m. last night in a final match against runner-up Justin Greenbaum. The tournament began at 8:30. Newville was the first to drop out, just before 10 p.m. Boyd placed 7th, which sophomore Jake Resnicow, president and founder of the Tufts Poker Society, called "interesting."
Contrastano took home a large trophy as well as a $1,000 gift certificate to the online gambling site, PokerRoom.com.
Well over a hundred students filled Barnum 008, where the tournament was held, to near-total capacity in order to watch the game.
"We handed out 621 raffle tickets," Resnicow said. "So that, to me, shows that there were at least that many people there at some point in the night."
The room remained packed until the final hand, Resnicow said, "There were tons of people standing up, cheering, and watching the final action. It was really great."
After Tufts' student band The Juice warmed up the audience, playing began in earnest.
The table itself was filmed and projected onto a screen behind the players' table, enabling the audience to watch each hand as it unfolded.
The tournament's two Masters of Ceremonies, freshmen Mike Gelman and Alex Vinchinsky, provided near-constant updates on the game's progression.
A raucous audience encouraged and taunted the players, and a steady stream of sponsor-related merchandise was distributed among the spectators. A complimentary copy of Bluff magazine, T-shirts advertising PokerRoom.com, the event's largest contributor, a $10 gift certificate to the Web site, packs of cards, and even bottled water were frequently thrown into the eager crowd. Dominos also donated 100 free pizzas for the event.
Raffle tickets handed to students as they entered the building were picked at random throughout the event, and lucky students won a $600 PokerRoom.com game poker set, including a felt tabletop, chips and cards, as well as a $199 night stay at an AmeriSuites Hotel. The "best fan," who was selected by Boyd himself, won a $320 plane ticket to France to watch the Grand Prix de Poker Tournament in Paris.
Junior Slava Mirilashvili, the Tournament Director, said that the success of the event exceeded the group's wildest expectations. "I have to admit that, due to technological limitations, our tournament is just not as exciting as the professional versions you see on TV," he said. "To see this many students show up to root for their fellow students up there was awesome."
Resnicow said he agreed with Mirilashvili that interest about poker amongst the student body spiked exponentially this year.
"From the explosion of the first event where 400 students stayed and played poker from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., I got a greater sense that there was a demand from the student body for the sport of poker," Resnicow said.
As a result of the obvious interest, Resnicow said that "over the last month, with the help of the dedicated officers of [Tufts Poker Society], I've poured all my energy into securing outside sponsorship to further enhance tonight's event."
Mirilashvili said that it was largely due to Resnicow's efforts that the Tufts Poker Society has met the success it has enjoyed this year. "He's done so much, it's ridiculous. He's a beast," Mirilashvili said.
After he called poker a "great equalizer" among large student bodies of mixed backgrounds, Mirilashvili said he hopes that the Tufts Poker Society can continue to increase its reach.
"We've got big plans," he said. "We want to start incorporating other schools in the Boston area soon, and hopefully it will spread to all of New England."
Sponsors of last night's event included PokerRoom.com, Dominos Pizza, Bluff Magazine, AmeriSuites Hotels, Tufts' No Homers Society, the Freshman and Junior Class Councils, the Secular Students Organization, and others.
